What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 01/15/16
Greetings!
Here's what is going on in my world this week:
- True Detective, Season 1
My partner and I blew through this over this past weekend, and we really enjoyed it. We had friends who had recommended it to us for a bit, and with my trial of HBO Now that I was playing around with (more on that later) we decided to check the show out. It's a slow burning, haunting, journey into a dark world of crime and mystery. Led masterfully by the two main actors, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the show pulls you in and takes you on this long, winding journey towards the truth about what happened in this bizarre fictional case that took place several years before. We haven't checked out season two yet (I've heard conflicting reports of its quality) but at the very least, I'm glad we checked out season one.
This was another show that I had heard some good things about. I am a fan of some of the actors and creative people behind this show, but unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of this show. It isn't bad or off-putting in any way, it just felt bland to me. Granted, I only watched the first handful of episodes, but still, there is so much good, scripted television out there that I don't feel the need to invest a bunch of time into a show that just doesn't feel like it is worth my time. Maybe the show gets better, but I gave it a chance and am going to move on. It doesn't feel like it is groundbreaking in any way or at all doing anything terribly creative so I don't feel like I am missing much. It had a sort of Big Bang Theory vibe to me, which while it at times celebrates geeks and nerds, sometimes it is laughing at us rather than with us.
I've been playing around with the free trial of HBO Now for the past month, and I've enjoyed what it has to offer. You get your pick of all of HBO's past shows, documentaries, and their current selection of both modern and classic movies. The quality is good and the interface works pretty well too. It works on my Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku Stick, and a myriad of other devices like my iPhone, iPad, or laptop. While the price tag of $15/month is a little steep, I do feel like it is staking a claim to a pretty robust, unique, and competitive viewing library. Nowhere else can I instantly stream Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies unless I am deliberately paying to rent or buy just that movie.